Singapore: 2025 medical inflation rate projected to be 12%, as high as in 2024
Last Updated on December 9, 2024 6:32 am
Singapore’s medical inflation rate is projected to be 12.0% in 2025, as high as in 2024. While the trend may be slightly cooling, it is projected to remain elevated over the longer term, according to a report released by WTW, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company.
WTW, in its Global Medical Trends Survey report, says that the key factors contributing to medical inflation in Singapore remain the same as in previous years, including high real estate costs, rising cost of healthcare talent and Singapore’s status as a popular medical treatment hub in the Asia Pacific region.
However, the government remains invested in improving the health of its population. Ms Audrey Tan, head of Health & Benefits, Southeast Asia and Singapore at WTW, said, “It is therefore important for companies to focus on workforce wellbeing and with a high emphasis on preventive care. The focus is to build a future-ready workforce that is ready for challenges ahead, especially to cater for the varying demographics in today’s workplace.”
The Ministry of Health has launched the Industry Transformation Map 2025 for healthcare, which revises the initiative first launched in 2017. Goals include enhancing digitisation of healthcare, leveraging data more effectively for research, and attracting and retaining healthcare professionals.
The objective is to provide employees more resources to understand the importance of taking care of their own health, supported by quality patient-centric care at an affordable price.
A regional comparison indicates that Singapore’s 2025 medical inflation rate is expected to be marginally lower than the average 12.3% projected for Asia Pacific, as shown in the table below.
Medical inflation projection for 2025 in selected markets in Asia Pacific (%)
| Markets | Gross increase | Net of general inflation | Inflation rate (IMF World Economic Outlook) | ||||||
2023 | 2024 | 2025 # | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 # | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 # | |
Australia | 9.2 | 8.5 | 11.1 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 8.1 | 5.6 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
China | 8.7 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 8.8 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
Hong Kong | 10.3 | 10.3 | 9.8 | 8.2 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
India** | 10.4 | 12.5 | 13.2 | 5.1 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
Indonesia** | 12.4 | 15.6 | 19.4 | 8.7 | 13.0 | 16.8 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
Malaysia | 16.6 | 14.9 | 16.4 | 14.1 | 12.1 | 13.9 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
New Zealand | 11.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 5.3 | 12.9 | 13.5 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 2.5 |
Philippines | 17.9 | 19.3 | 18.3 | 11.9 | 15.7 | 15.3 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 3.0 |
Singapore** | 13.7 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
South Korea** | 11.7 | 11.6 | 11.9 | 8.1 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
Sri Lanka* | 20.0 | 15.0 | 10.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Taiwan | 8.0 | 9.0 | 11.0 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 9.4 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
Thailand** | 12.3 | 15.2 | 14.2 | 11.1 | 14.5 | 13.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
Vietnam** | 4.8 | 20.5 | 11.2 | 1.6 | 16.8 | 7.8 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 3.4 |
| Asia Pacific | 10.9 | 11.9 | 12.3 | 7.0 | 9.1 | 9.8 | |||
# projected *Countries where trend was provided by WTW brokers **Countries where trend was provided by both insurers and WTW brokers | |||||||||
Source: WTW Global Medical Trends Survey 2025 — Survey report | |||||||||